Did you know that nearly one out of every five Americans had a mental illness last year? Denying coverage is now being looked at deeper than just a financial issue, as some see it as a human rights issue.

Families are suffering from the strict system placed on behavioral health insurance processes. A system that fails the needs of people who need it the most, because of not meeting insurance company’s, “medical necessity”, clause.

Without a reasonable doubt, this is more than a concern for so many Americans who suffer from behavioral health illnesses and can’t seem to get the adequate treatment needed to overcome this difficult roadblock.

A psychiatrist once said,

“Before I decided to specialize in psychiatry, I assumed a person in need of mental health care would have the same access to treatment one has for medical conditions like kidney stones, pneumonia or seizures. Instead, mental health patients and their providers face a mountain of bureaucratic obstacles that other patients are spared.”

Imagine being a doctor, and having to tell someone or even a child who desperately needs treatment, that they aren’t considered depressed enough, or their presenting conditions do not meet the most critical states of mental illness in order to be treated.

With adolescent mental health illnesses on the rise, this has to be one of the most ignored issues that we face in America today. According to the new report, diagnoses of “Major Depressive Disorder”, have risen to over 30 percent since 2013, and now affects an estimated 9 million commercially insured Americans.

Teen depression rates are increasing so rapidly, if we don’t figure out a better solution, we will be headed for an array of consequences. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates there were 72,000 deaths from opioid overdoses last year and more than 43,000 suicides reported in 2017.

“Even in spite of the fact that we’re in the midst of the biggest public health crisis of our time of overdose and suicide, we as a nation have yet to come to grips with this in the way that it needs to be,” – Former congressman and mental health care advocate Patrick Kennedy.

The process of finding and funding adequate mental health treatment is a very daunting task, and most times insurers will simply deny treatment initially knowing that most people are going through so much that will won’t challenge denials of care, leaving them feeling lost and confused and only adds to the stress they are already dealing with.

It’s quite frustrating when just 10 years ago, a law passed called the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, also known as the Federal Parity Law. The law requires most insurers to cover illnesses of the brain, such as depression or addiction, no more restrictively than they cover illnesses of the body.

“There are still tons of roadblocks on the policy side and, frankly, in spite of the fact Congress thinks they’ve appropriated some gargantuan amount of money, it still represents less than one-fifth of what we were spending on HIV/AIDS during the AIDS crisis when we were losing far fewer people than we’re currently losing today,” – Patrick Kennedy

Insurers regularly denied coverage to people with pre-existing mental or substance use conditions;

Insurers imposed a 20 to 50 percent increase in premiums for people with a history of mental health or substance use conditions;

Insurers offered superficial coverage that did not meet essential needs; and

Insurers actively created barriers and limited access to mental health and substance use treatment.

The only way we can see any change is by standing up and speaking out on unjust insurance denials and registering a complaint with your health plan. The more we do this, we can help pressure elected officials, insurance commissioners, and the attorneys general to enforce federal and state parity laws in favor of the patients who need the attention and treatment their insurance plan should be covering.

Nothing will ever change if we don’t speak up and hold insurance companies accountable. We must demand equality for those with mental health and addiction challenges. We cannot stand idly by while insurance companies break the law, at the expense of American families.

Help for Mental Illnesses. Get Immediate Help. If you are in crisis and need immediate support or intervention, call, or go the website of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255). Trained crisis workers are available to talk 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Have questions or need help with insurance claims and or denials, we are always here to answer or help in anyway possible.